​Does sex help improve your memory? And give you other superpowers?

This week, Broadly reported on a study that said it had found evidence that sex helps improve women’s memories. The more sex you have, apparently, the better you are at recalling abstract words. Is it true? My own experience would seem to suggest otherwise: I’ve had a hell of a lot of sex, but still I’ll have to introduce myself to you four or five times before I remember your face.

Nevertheless, there was apparently a positive correlation between the amount of PVI (Penile-Vaginal Intercourse – which is what I call it during dirty talk too, if I happen to be role-playing a sexy scientist) women had and their recall of abstract words.

“Researchers out of McGill University were inspired to investigate whether having a lot of sex was associated with increased neurogenesis (or growth of nervous tissue) in the hippocampus, thus yielding better memory performance, after reading a slew of animal studies with similar findings. They recruited 78 heterosexual women under the age of 30 to participate in their study. … When researchers analyzed the memory scores against all of the factors listed on the questionnaire, they found that PVI frequency was positively associated with memory scores for abstract word sensitivity scores”

As with any study like this, excitedly reported on by journalists and eager bloggers like me, it shouldn’t be taken as gospel. The researchers themselves are cautious about the results, and there are lots of different reasons for why memory and shagging may be correlated.

But I’d like it to be true. And what’s more, I’d love it if simply having sex could help us gain new superpowers above and beyond memory. Off the top of my head, here are a few things I think sex does for me:

Improving coordination

It’s not always easy, you know, using one hand to open a bottle oflube while the other hand is focused on massaging someone’s dick. While you can getlubes with pump-action dispensers to make this all easier, I like to think that all my practice at doing this has increased my hand-eye coordination. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. And don’t get me started onbondage – practicing knots like an eager boy scout must surely be helping you improve your fine motor skills, not to mention making you look pretty badass when you manage to get them all right.

Reducing stress

There’s a lot of evidence for this, and it’s not hard to see why: orgasms release chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin which are associated with positive feelings. What’s more, all the time you’re having sex you’re managing not to do any of the stressful things in life – like washing up, replying to that 9pm email from your line manager, or having a fight with your mother in law.

Keeping you fit

Sex burns calories. Ignore all those articles that say ‘sex burns 200 calories!’ or ‘sex burns more calories than running!’ – in reality the amount of calories you burn during sex can only depend on how active you are. But regardless of whether you work your way through ten karma sutra positions, or swing from the lampshades, sex is a physical activity so you’re bound to see some benefit. Even if it’s just that you work up the appetite for a hearty breakfast the next morning.

Sex, memory and superpowers

One of the reasons I’m drawn to studies like the memory one mentioned above is because it seems lots of people really want them to be true. We’d like to see an extra reason to get naked this evening with a friend or lover, and get down to a bit more of what we love. As if we need an excuse! While it would be lovely if sex turned us into perfect-recall superheroes, surely we don’t really need an excuse, do we? Sex can be fun, playful, hot, and an excellent way to pass the time. Superpower or not, it’ll still be my favourite hobby.

And if you still need an excuse… well, here’s a memory test: at the start of this article I asked three questions about your memory. Can you remember what they were? No? Maybe you need to have a little bit more sex. Use the code SEXTOY20 to get 20% off everything on the site, and get a head start on your new superpowers.

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